Re: [Leica] Noctilux photo

[Alfred Breull <puma@hannover.sgh-net.de>]

Tina, 

you are certainly one of the best human relation and portrait 
photographers I ever saw. Your b/w picture manley_1.jpg, taken 
at f 1 and 1/30, shows your ability to recognize and translate
an individual's personality into an impressing abstraction 
without loss of detail information. Technically - no matter 
whether it's the Noctilux f 1 performance, or the rendition 
of sweat drops, light on the man's left nipple, or the man's
face expression - the picture is superb and almost perfect. 

But, unfortunately you are *the* Tina Manley showing b/w examples 
at
      <http://www.photogs.com/manley/index.html>,
not to speak of your Honduras pictures.

Compared to (all) these pictures, your recent Moskito Indian man's 
portrait has (a little) less (emotional) impact to me. Maybe, 
because it's too heavy on it's right side, or, corresponding, 
because a part on the left side is missing, which would allow 
the observer to follow the man's view/ gaze (?, sorry I don't
the correct English phrase). Since the man's view/ gaze is 
directed almost exactly at the middle of the left border, the
sensitive "golden rule/law" point is too much out of the 
picture. [But, maybe it's just in the scan, or on my screen, 
and not in the original print.]

To me your picture would be even better - in the meaning of
"more accentuated" or "more pronounced" - if it's cut on the upper 
part just below the lips, on the left side till the man's right 
nipple, and on the lower part just below the upper girdle line. 
That's what I would try. But, unfortunately, this would change 
the emaning of your picture also.

In total, I still feel your picture as outstanding.

Alf



At 17:25 07.12.1997 -0500, Tina Manley wrote:
>I have an "available darkness" photo made with my new Noctilux on the
>Photoforum Gallery page at <http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/gallery.html>  I'd
>appreciate any comments and/or criticisms.